Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Never

By C. LaRene Hall

I’ve been looking at a list I have of things you should never do as a writer, but I have a new one to put at the top of my list. The number one thing that you as a writer should never do is take a vacation.

My vacation this time lasted almost two weeks, and I purposely left my computer at home. Now that I’m back, I’ve decided that it was a huge mistake leaving it. I do have many tiny little notes that I scribbled on small pieces of paper. Some of them make sense, but most of them have no meaning and are untidy, illegible doodles. The memorable moments are still in my head, but I lost more than I saved. I even took my tape player that sat in my bag unused. I was really on vacation.

A writer should always be prepared and should always write all those precious thoughts onto more than small scrapes of paper. You should always write clear notes, and not scribble. I’m not happy that I failed to keep track of thoughts swimming in my head. I know that once it goes away it will never return.

Other times when I’ve gone away on vacation, I’ve kept good records and at least wrote on my AlphaSmart. This time although it was with me, I only recorded the pictures I took. I can use the excuse that I was too busy and having too much fun, but it won’t help bring back all the lost thoughts. At least I learned from this experience.

I take breaks from writing, both on vacation and just ignoring my writing for a while. It actually helps me out. If I think I have to write every single day, I feel so much pressure I start disliking my book. If I know it's okay to blow it off once in a while, I keep liking my opportunities to write. Right now, my schedule is to write four days a week. I've kept up that schedule for three months now, while my resolutions to write every day typically fizzle out after about a week.

Around the Blogck

Once upon a time, a group of new writers got together and started this blog about their struggles, their aspirations, and their quest to become published authors.

Now, the better part of a decade later, we've been around awhile. We've learned far more , done more, and gone farther than we ever imagined we would!

Some joined us, some moved on, some became the published authors they always wanted to be, and some are still in the grind.

This is the record of where we've been, a textbook of what's been learned and a heartfelt memoir of experiences shared. Though the writers have moved on, the archives are here for you to peruse, and hopefully you'll find something in them to help, encourage and uplift.